[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Kodaco, a die-casting specialist company, is showing strong performance. The news that it will receive technology transfer of high-performance duplex aluminum materials from the Korea Automotive Technology Institute appears to be influencing its stock price. Kodaco expects to improve the performance of automotive parts using the characteristics of the new material and anticipates replacing aluminum parts of automotive steel material components, which were difficult to realize with existing aluminum materials. Additionally, the company has plans to develop parts suitable for future electric vehicle component characteristics.
As of 9:21 AM on the 24th, Kodaco is trading at 1,355 KRW, up 3.44% from the previous day.
After hitting the daily price limit the previous day, it has maintained an upward trend for two consecutive days.
On the previous day, Na Seung-sik, Director of KATRI, and In Gwi-seung, CEO of Kodaco, signed a technology transfer contract for "high-performance aluminum alloy and high-pressure die-casting technology" at the Korea Automotive Technology Institute headquarters in Pungse-myeon, Cheonan-si, Chungnam.
KATRI was established in 1990 with the goal of strengthening the competitiveness of the domestic automotive industry and has been conducting core automotive technology research and development (R&D) for the past 32 years. In the field of material R&D, it has produced various research achievements in areas such as ▲future car smart materials ▲next-generation energy materials ▲advanced structural materials.
Kodaco is a die-casting specialist company supplying automotive parts to domestic and international automakers such as Hyundai Kia Motors, Ford, and Tesla. It is pushing forward the development of automotive parts using domestic new materials to break away from the overseas-dependent high-performance aluminum material parts market. To lead the next-generation electric vehicle die-casting parts market, it is focusing its capabilities on expanding overseas production bases, including a factory in Mexico, as well as domestically.
The "duplex aluminum alloy technology" developed by KATRI has higher strength and elongation (3.5~16 GPa%) compared to conventional commercial aluminum materials. It can be applied to casting processes such as die-casting and plastic processing processes such as extrusion, rolling, and forging, making its range of applications broad and its recyclability excellent.
KATRI and Kodaco expect that through the technology transfer contract, the development of duplex aluminum body and chassis parts with ▲high strength ▲weldability ▲high corrosion resistance ▲recyclability will play a significant role in the future mobility market, where achieving carbon neutrality is becoming increasingly important.
The research team led by Dr. Kim Se-hoon at KATRI, who developed the technology, said, "To achieve global carbon neutrality by 2050, recyclability of materials and reduction of carbon emissions in processes are emerging as key issues. Through technology transfer, we hope that rapid commercialization of carbon-neutral aluminum materials will reduce dependence on overseas materials and that domestically produced materials will lead the world at the forefront of global competition."
Na Seung-sik, Director of KATRI, emphasized, "The R&D material technology independently developed by the institute will be a core competency for future cars in the 4th industrial era. We will continue to strive to become a pivotal institution that can lead various corporate commercializations through the transfer of research outcomes, which are the institute’s intellectual property."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
